1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toy building blocks and more particularly pertains to a building block of any geometrical shape having fabric fasteners secured thereto for releasably coupling to another block.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of toy building blocks is known in the prior art. More specifically, toy building blocks heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of constructing toy buildings and the like are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
For example, a toy building block is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,221 which takes the shape of a cube with two end-formed recesses, one at one corner of the cube, and the other in the diagonally opposed corner of the cube. The dimensions of both recess are equal and cubic, and equivalent to half the length of one of the sides of the cube.
A magnetic building block is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,021 which utilizes a metallic body and a magnetic strip extending around the periphery of the body. The magnetic strip is affixed to the metallic body such that the flat surfaces of the metallic body are aligned with the edges of the magnetic strip. The magnetic strip has multiple magnetic poles on the exterior surface to facilitate a securement of the magnet building block to a similarly constructed block in a number of positions.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,647 which describes a solid rectangular building block for a toy building set which is intended to interlock frictionally with like building blocks. Each building block has a plurality of intersecting grooves formed in its faces in a predetermined pattern and is also provided with a number of tongues extending outwardly from certain other faces which are intersected by the grooves and which are intended to fit into the grooves of similarly shaped blocks in a frictional relationship with such grooves, thereby securing the two blocks together.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a building block of any geometrical shape having fabric fasteners secured thereto for releasable coupling to another block which includes a hollow geometrical shape with hook and loop material alternatingly positioned at opposed edges of the shape to facilitate securement of the block to another similarly constructed block. Furthermore, none of the known prior art toy building blocks teach or suggest a separation assembly positioned within the block and operable to facilitate a separation of attached blocks.
In these respects, the fabric fastener building block according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing building blocks of any geometrical shape having fabric fasteners secured thereto for releasable coupling to another similarly constructed block.